The Supreme Leader made the remarks in a meeting with Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Turkmenistan’s Chairman of the People’s Council and the country’s former president, in Tehran on Wednesday.
Ayatollah Khamenei said in the meeting that the cultural commonalities between Iran and Turkmenistan are key factors for further expansion of relations between the two countries in different areas, in particular in the field of energy and transportation.
The Supreme Leader also voiced his support for Iran's cooperation with Turkmenistan in areas of water, electricity and natural gas.
In response to Berdimuhamedov’s request on dispatching Iranian experts for constructing a highway from the Iran-Turkmenistan border to the Caspian Sea, Ayatollah Khamenei said that Iran’s Ministry of Roads and Urban Development is capable of conducting the project.
Given the important role of land and rail connection in the global economy, Iran is determined to complete the North-South transit corridor, he added.
The route can connect Turkmenistan and its surrounding countries to the Sea of Oman, the Supreme Leader further noted.
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, for his part, expressed satisfaction over meeting with the Supreme Leader.
“Over the past years and during my presidency, I have always followed your standpoints and advice in my visits to Iran,” he noted.
Significant steps have been taken based on those comments, the top Turkmen official added.
Berdimuhamedov went on to say that he is seeking to use the Supreme Leader’s advice to conduct large projects in Turkmenistan.
Touching on his talks with senior Iranian officials, he said that good agreements had been made to develop bilateral cooperation, especially by making use of Iranian specialists’ know-how in road construction, as well as in water, electricity, and gas projects.